WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump approved military strikes on Friday against Iran in retaliation for the downing of an unmanned $130-million surveillance drone. Later he pulled back from launching the attacks.
Trump had initially approved strikes on a handful of targets such as radar and missile batteries. The strikes were set to take place just before dawn on Friday to minimize risk to the Iranian military or to civilians.
The abrupt reversal put a halt to what would have been Trump’s third military action against targets in the Middle East, the New York Times paper added. Trump administration had struck twice at targets in Syria, in 2017 and 2018. It is not clear whether attacks on Iran might still go forward. (Agencies)
Comment